When examining the church of Laodicea,
it is like looking
in a mirror and
seeing ourselves.
The Laodicean
church, in
Revelation 3:14-22,
strongly typifies
the modern day
churches of this
country. Let’s take
a brief look at this
great city first.

Laodicea
was located on a
very important trade
route in Roman Asia
Minor (modern day Turkey), and was thereby an
important and
flourishing
commercial city. It
had fertile soil for
farming and handled
large money
transactions and
extensive trade. It
was famous for its
large banking
interests, textile
industry, and its
production of a
special eye-salve.
Even though it
suffered from
earthquakes, it was
able to restore any
damage by means of
its own wealth.
(They were so
wealthy, they did
not even accept
assistance from
Rome
to rebuild.) The
inhabitants
themselves were
wealthy and had a
taste for the arts.
The city boasted a
great medical school
and beautiful
monuments. It minted
its own money. The
people worshipped
several gods. It was
titled a free city
by
Rome, a capital city of Rome (of 23 other cities), held court trials,
had a large Jewish
community, became a
chief seat of
Christianity. It
proudly displayed
stadiums,
gymnasiums,
theatres, aqueducts,
and several temples.
Extravagance and
luxury were
everywhere.

Finally, the water
supply for Laodicea was calcareous and lukewarm. Six
miles away,
Hierapolis
had
hot springs,
and nine miles away,
Colossae
had pure cold water.
Laodicea
piped water from
these two cities by
aqueducts, but by
the time the water
arrived at its
destination in
Laodicea,
it was lukewarm.

From the above short
description, we can
see that Laodicea excelled in the
medical field,
various religions,
politics, finance,
science,
agriculture, trade,
geography, sports,
art, entertainment,
beautiful buildings,
justice centers,
manufacturing, and
freedom. Does this
remind you of any
place you know?

The city and its
people had
everything going for
them. Life was a
luxury. They lived
on easy street. They
had “pie in the sky”
and lived their
dream. So what was
the problem? There
was no major problem
with the city or the
general populace.
The problem was in
the church of
Laodicea that was supposed
to be a light for
Jesus Christ.

Jesus said of His
church located in Laodicea, “I
know your deeds,
that you are neither
cold nor hot; I wish
that you were cold
or hot. So because
you are lukewarm,
and neither hot nor
cold, I will spit
[vomit] you out of My mouth. Because you say, "I am rich, and have become
wealthy, and have
need of nothing,"
and you do not know
that you are
wretched and
miserable and poor
and blind and naked,
I advise you to buy
from Me gold refined
by fire so that you
may become rich, and
white garments so
that you may clothe
yourself, and
that
the shame of your
nakedness will not
be revealed; and eye
salve to anoint your
eyes so that you may
see.”
(NASB)

How could this
church have been so
pathetic when it had
everything
materially going for
it? History has
proven that a life
of ease is most
always detrimental
to the growth of the
church.

Let’s take a very
brief look at the
similarities between Laodicea and us. Are we
alike in any of
these areas?

FEATURES

LAODICEA

AMERICA

Medical
Field

Yes

Yes

Various
Religions

Yes

Yes

Politics

Yes

Yes

Finance

Yes

Yes

Science

Yes

Yes

Agriculture

Yes

Yes

Trade

Yes

Yes

Geography

Yes

Yes

Sports

Yes

Yes

Art

Yes

Yes

Entertainment

Yes

Yes

Beautiful
Buildings

Yes

Yes

Justice
Centers

Yes

Yes

Manufacturing

Yes

Yes

Freedom

Yes

Yes

In every single
area, we are a
mirror image of Laodicea. Anyone who
cannot see this, has
got to be
spiritually blind. I
believe it would be
safe to say, that at
least most of the
other six churches
Jesus describes, do
clearly see the
striking resemblance
between Laodicea and
many churches in
America.

I repeat, history
has proven that a
life of ease is most
always detrimental
to the growth of a
church. In other
countries, where
persecution is
rampant, true
Christianity is
growing in leaps and
bounds. They may be
poor materially, but
they are rich where
it counts …
spiritually.

Our country has
received more
blessings from God
than probably any
other country that
has ever existed. In
the last several
years though, our
unappreciative
attitude has come
full circle. We
think we are rich,
and have become very
wealthy materially.
We have need of
nothing,
particularly from
God.

I do not know how
Laodicea
started out, but
their spiritual
condition is obvious
at the time Jesus
sent His letter to
them by John. The
church, as a whole
today, is in exactly
the same spiritual
condition as
Laodicea
at the time of
Jesus’ letter to
them. We did not
start out this way,
but over the years,
the more we were
blessed, the further
we strayed away from
God. Now, many
churches in
America
should just go ahead
and have their names
changed to Laodicea.

The
church
of LaodiceaUSA has definitely become wretched,
miserable, poor,
blind and naked.

This country has
produced some great
men and women of
God, but today most
of the production
are those with “get
rich quick” schemes.
These churches exude
an air of “it’s all
about me”. They
worship God with
their lips, but not
their hearts. It is
very difficult to
find a true Bible
believing, Bible
teaching group,
whether it be in
your local home
town, or on the
radio or television.
In some home towns,
it is at best
improbable, if not
impossible.

Jesus tells the
Laodicean church
that (1) they need
to buy gold from
Him, that is refined
by fire, because
they are actually
poor, (2) they need
to buy white
garments from Him,
because they are
naked and their
shame is being
revealed, and (3)
they need to buy eye
salve from Him,
because they cannot
see the Truth.

The same message can
be given to the
church in America.

Gold:

The Laodicean
churches today meet
in grandiose
buildings, with
plush carpets and
pews. (Note: I am
not implying that
all churches with
these physical
characteristics are
a Laodicean type.
Many may be poor
materially, but full
of the world and
full of themselves.)
The furniture and
other disposable
assets alone are
disgustingly
expensive. Most
every church has
built a “play” area,
each giving it a
special name, such
as “ActivityCenter”.
The music is loud,
and the sermons
“inspiring”;urging us to
reach out in faith,
to satisfy the
hunger for ease and
comfort, that
envelops our souls.
The crocodile tears
match the emptiness
of our souls, while
we contemplate our
next adulteress
affair with the
world. By the time
the show is over,
our skin just crawls
with goose bumps,
and we can hardly
wait to get home to
write another check,
to insure no rocking
of our boat. We’re
rich! We’re rich!
We’ve got it all! “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required
of thee: then whose
shall those things
be, which thou hast
provided? (Luke
12:20)

White Garments:

If you think the
Pharisees died off,
think again. The
Laodicean “holier
than thou” crowd is
alive and well.
These are the
“special” people
with special seating
areas and special
titles, revered by
all. Don’t you dare
sit in their spot,
and if your
community status
falls short of
theirs … well, too
bad … nice to have
you, but maybe you
should go somewhere
else. If they walked
out in the rain,
they would all
drown. These are
those the outsiders
call “hypocrites”. “The
Pharisee stood and
prayed thus with
himself, God, I
thank thee, that I
am not as other men
are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers,
or even as this
publican. I fast
twice in the week, I
give tithes of all
that I possess.”
(Luke 18:11-12) “Thou
hypocrite, first
cast out the beam
out of thine own
eye; and then shalt
thou see clearly to
cast out the mote
out of thy brother's
eye.”(Matthew 7:5)

Eye Salve:

Many in the
Laodicean church of America,
from the pulpit
throughout the pews,
can’t see past their
noses. They are
sinking in the
quicksand of
liberalism or
legalism, and the
mucky mire of
egotism. Their minds
are in neutral, as
they coast down the
road of life,
thinking all is
well. Everything is
okie dokie between
them and God,
because they have
something special
worked out with God,
since they are such
special people.

Wake up
Laodicea!
Jesus says to you,
“Behold, I stand at
the door, and knock:
if any man hear my
voice, and open the
door, I will come in
to him, and will sup
with him, and he
with me.”
(Revelation 3:20) If
you are in a
Laodicean church,
get out! Find one
that has gold,
refined by the
burning Word of God.
Find one dressed in
garments of
righteousness
provided by God.
Find one with true
vision, healed by
the eye salve of the
Great Physician.

The Laodicean church
is like the people
of Noah’s day just
before the flood,
frolicking along,
totally unaware of
their impending
doom.

Jesus is coming
soon! His last
message was to the
last church age,
Laodicea,
just prior to the
Rapture depicted in
Revelation 4:1. The
church age that we
are in right now is
not just a
hint of the
Laodicean age. It
is the Laodicean
age … full blown …
ripe and ready.

Notice that Jesus
said they were
neither cold nor
hot, but lukewarm,
and that He will
vomit them out of
His mouth. Now I
realize that this is
disgusting, but just
imagine yourself
vomiting. Think
about it for
awhile……. For your
body to get to this
point, something
must be going on
badly enough in your
stomach to cause it
(your stomach) to
throw the contents
back out through
your mouth. Quite
literally, your
stomach is saying,
“What on earth have
you dumped on me!?
Here, you can have
it back!” This is
exactly what Jesus
is saying to the
Laodicean church,
“You make me sick!
What on earth have
you dumped on me!?
Here, you can have
it back!” Folks, as
disgusting as it is
to think about it,
this is what Jesus
thinks of the
Laodicean attitude.
It is nothing more
than vomit residue.

Laodicea,
you are not rich. To
the contrary, you
are poor, blind and
naked. Open the
door, and let Him
in. Time is running
short.